Vascular dementia is a common form of memory loss and mental decline caused by problems in the brain’s tiny blood vessels. It affects millions of people worldwide.
But even though it’s widespread, it hasn’t received nearly as much attention as Alzheimer’s disease. Unlike Alzheimer’s, which is linked to sticky plaques and twisted proteins in the brain, vascular dementia is caused by damage to the brain’s blood supply.
Now, a researcher at The University of New Mexico (UNM) is working to change that. Dr. Elaine Bearer, a professor in the School of Medicine’s Department of Pathology, has introduced a new way to study and understand the different forms of vascular dementia.
Her new research, recently published in the American Journal of Pathology, offers a new model for defining how changes in small blood vessels lead to cognitive decline.
Dr. Bearer hopes her new system will help scientists better identify and classify the various forms of vascular dementia. This, in turn, could lead to better treatments for people suffering from the disease.
Vascular dementia can be caused by high blood pressure, hardening of the arteries, and diabetes. But researchers still don’t know all the possible causes.
One surprising new finding is the presence of tiny plastic particles—called nano- and microplastics—in the brain. These tiny bits of plastic have been found in increasing amounts in the environment and are now being discovered in human tissues, including the brain.
“We’ve been flying blind,” Dr. Bearer explained. “We didn’t fully understand what we were treating, and we didn’t know microplastics were part of the problem because we couldn’t see them before.”
In her research, Dr. Bearer identified ten different ways the brain’s blood vessels can become damaged. These issues can reduce oxygen and nutrients to the brain, make blood vessels leak, trigger inflammation, and block the brain’s ability to clear waste. Over time, this leads to many tiny strokes and slowly damages brain cells.
Dr. Bearer used special staining techniques and powerful microscopes to study brain tissue donated by New Mexico families. Many of the brains showed both Alzheimer’s-type damage and signs of vascular injury. She believes that in New Mexico, about half of the people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s may also have some form of vascular disease.
She argues that creating a clear, step-by-step system to identify and score the types of vascular damage could help doctors and researchers better understand each patient’s condition. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is now considering forming a national group of brain experts to help build a new classification system.
One of the most unexpected findings in Dr. Bearer’s work is the link between brain microplastics and dementia. She says that tiny plastic particles in the brain may be contributing to memory loss and other problems.
“There’s more plastic in the brains of people with dementia than in people without it,” she said. “It seems to be linked to how bad the dementia is.”
These plastics were also associated with higher levels of inflammation in the brain. Dr. Bearer believes that this discovery could change how we think about dementia and what causes it.
Her work is closely connected to ongoing studies led by Dr. Gary Rosenberg, director of the UNM Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. The center received a $21.7 million NIH grant in 2024 to support this research. Dr. Rosenberg has long studied the role of blood vessels in dementia.
“When we began planning the center, I realized we needed to study the blood vessels in the brain in more detail,” said Dr. Bearer. “No one else had done it in such a complete way before.”
She hopes this research will lead to national guidelines for identifying and classifying blood vessel damage in the brain and understanding how microplastics affect brain health. Her goal is to work with other Alzheimer’s research centers around the country to create a shared system that will help doctors and scientists everywhere.
If you care about brain health, please read studies about Vitamin B9 deficiency linked to higher dementia risk, and cranberries could help boost memory.
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